Electric Vehicles Are Testing the UK’s Love of Small Cars
It's 4 p.m. on a wet Monday in southeast London, and we're trying to parallel park uphill, a necessary if unpleasant rite of passage for any city driver. Our electric car, a bright red Ora Funky Cat, has been through a battery of such rites today — hauling furniture, ferrying passengers, avoiding pedestrians — and takes to London's streets like it was made for them. On the slippery surface of a narrow road, the Ora EV excels: At just over 4 meters (13 feet), it's easy to parallel park.
The Funky Cat is a head-turning EV with a fun design to match its name; there's a hint of Porsche in the flared front fenders and squat haunches. The Asian-made car, which went on sale last fall, is also prowling around a sweet spot in the UK's EV market: models small and light enough that a modest battery can push them a decent distance. Of the 72 electric cars available in the UK, nine have batteries with a capacity under 50 kWh. Just two EVs in the US do.
The UK has a long tradition of popular small cars, perhaps best exemplified by an iconic Mini Cooper chase scene in 1969's British classic, The Italian Job. But electrification is raising new challenges for compact models, as costly lithium-ion power packs push carmakers toward conflicting strategies. At one end of the EV market are large, luxury cars with big batteries and high prices (see: the BMW i7). At the other are smaller, scrappier EVs like the Funky Cat, which aim to thread the needle between affordability, range and size. Carmakers are betting on UK demand for the latter.
As the EV market finds its global footing, the footprint of the average car is growing. SUVs made up 44% of new EV sales in the UK last year, compared with 30% of all new car sales (including electric,
Read more on tech.hindustantimes.com
